This coming from a late stage GenX here!  :o

Honestly yes I do have positive memories of this period but looking back I cannot help but think this was quite a fun time and there were a lot of things we all took for granted.

My knowledge of popular culture in the 21st Century is admittedly patchy but there were some great fun tunes with electronic and disco influences (Call Me Baby, I Love It), plenty of 80s throwbacks and power pop and great dance music such as the Swedish House Mafia and tropical house as well as still some good original box office films rather than an over saturation of Marvel stuff. Fashions became more interesting to look at again and seeing females in sexy shiny leather or faux leather clothing returned after the Dry Dick years of the mid-late 2000s thus truly pleasing my eyes!

This is when smartphones really took off and you have to admit that was rather exciting at first and as well as FB becoming ubiquitious Instagram was taking off and the retro sepia filtered photos phase was an interesting novelty. Immature braindead apps like Snapchat (and of course TikTok, a complete plague on society) were not in existence or at least not gaining much traction. This was the heyday of Windows 7 which as far as I'm concerned was the last time Windows was worth using and my choice before it well and truly jumped the shark (FWIW, I have not touched Windows 8 or 10 as they looked too confusing).

But also as for current affairs and the mood of the world, sure there were unsettling news events but it felt in retrospect like a different world from the divided culture wars SJW woke identity politics insanity of 2015 onwards but also it felt like the War on Terror and related events that dominated the 2000s started to fade somewhat come 2010.

In fact it feels like around Summer 2015 is when everything changed and not just Trump announcing he'd run for President. The rainbow flag White House and Supreme Court ruling happened and that divided people as did the migrant invasion of Europe (oooh ja "wir schaffen dass")  ::) and a spate of distressing terror attacks occured on European soil. The radical right and radical left became more mainstream from this year on and when people complain about all things woke etc, all of that had its origins in the year 2015, and specifically the Summer of 2015.

Is it me or did we take a lot for granted and were the years between 2010 and 2014 some of the better years of the entire 21st Century? I really do feel if there is any 21st Century period I would love to revisit it is definitely this as well as the very early 2000s up to 2002.

The decade was schizophrenic because you couldn't just group it in halves for how good it was. 2010 - 2012 absolutely sucked, 2013 - 2015 was great - 2016 - 2017 was less great but not awful, 2018 was awful, and finally 2019 was quite a bit less awful.

The decade was schizophrenic because you couldn't just group it in halves for how good it was. 2010 - 2012 absolutely sucked, 2013 - 2015 was great - 2016 - 2017 was less great but not awful, 2018 was awful, and finally 2019 was quite a bit less awful.


For me it's literally the exact opposite. 2010 - 2012 were pretty good for me, 2013-2014 sucked, 2015-mid 2016 were good, late 2016-mid 2017 not so much, 2018 was pretty good, and 2019 wasn't as good as 2018 but pretty close.

You guys have good years? o_O

Personally I enjoyed the first half of the 2010s but the pop culture left much to be desired

This coming from a late stage GenX here!  :o

Honestly yes I do have positive memories of this period but looking back I cannot help but think this was quite a fun time and there were a lot of things we all took for granted.

My knowledge of popular culture in the 21st Century is admittedly patchy but there were some great fun tunes with electronic and disco influences (Call Me Baby, I Love It), plenty of 80s throwbacks and power pop and great dance music such as the Swedish House Mafia and tropical house as well as still some good original box office films rather than an over saturation of Marvel stuff. Fashions became more interesting to look at again and seeing females in sexy shiny leather or faux leather clothing returned after the Dry Dick years of the mid-late 2000s thus truly pleasing my eyes!

This is when smartphones really took off and you have to admit that was rather exciting at first and as well as FB becoming ubiquitious Instagram was taking off and the retro sepia filtered photos phase was an interesting novelty. Immature braindead apps like Snapchat (and of course TikTok, a complete plague on society) were not in existence or at least not gaining much traction. This was the heyday of Windows 7 which as far as I'm concerned was the last time Windows was worth using and my choice before it well and truly jumped the shark (FWIW, I have not touched Windows 8 or 10 as they looked too confusing).

But also as for current affairs and the mood of the world, sure there were unsettling news events but it felt in retrospect like a different world from the divided culture wars SJW woke identity politics insanity of 2015 onwards but also it felt like the War on Terror and related events that dominated the 2000s started to fade somewhat come 2010.

In fact it feels like around Summer 2015 is when everything changed and not just Trump announcing he'd run for President. The rainbow flag White House and Supreme Court ruling happened and that divided people as did the migrant invasion of Europe (oooh ja "wir schaffen dass")  ::) and a spate of distressing terror attacks occured on European soil. The radical right and radical left became more mainstream from this year on and when people complain about all things woke etc, all of that had its origins in the year 2015, and specifically the Summer of 2015.

Is it me or did we take a lot for granted and were the years between 2010 and 2014 some of the better years of the entire 21st Century? I really do feel if there is any 21st Century period I would love to revisit it is definitely this as well as the very early 2000s up to 2002.


You're right, life & culture was mostly carefree until specifically the DAY Trump did his first Republican Debate (August 2015). To me that's the day that divides the true 1st half VS the 2nd half of the decade. Also, you should really try Windows 10, it's very similar to how Windows 7 was

You're right, life & culture was mostly carefree until specifically the DAY Trump did his first Republican Debate (August 2015). To me that's the day that divides the true 1st half VS the 2nd half of the decade. Also, you should really try Windows 10, it's very similar to how Windows 7 was


Sorry but I don't want to support Bill Gates in any way any more.  ;D

The only years from the first half that were fun were 2013 and 2014. Anything before 2013 was terrible.

On the whole, the second half was better because you had 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019, all of these years were better than 2010 - 2012. Only year that was really bad (and the worst year of the 2010s in general) was 2018.

The only years from the first half that were fun were 2013 and 2014. Anything before 2013 was terrible.

On the whole, the second half was better because you had 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019, all of these years were better than 2010 - 2012. Only year that was really bad (and the worst year of the 2010s in general) was 2018.


You gotta learn to differentiate between the culture of your own personal life VS culture as a whole. Your life may have sucked in 2010 - 2012, but most people were having a great time

You gotta learn to differentiate between the culture of your own personal life VS culture as a whole. Your life may have sucked in 2010 - 2012, but most people were having a great time


Just like with the 2020's, you're not allowed to have your opinion and have to groupthink with everyone. Who cares about your personal experiences like a death in the family, loss of a job, relationship troubles, etc.

You gotta learn to differentiate between the culture of your own personal life VS culture as a whole. Your life may have sucked in 2010 - 2012, but most people were having a great time



Most people? You know most people? Most people in Haiti in 2010? Most people in Aurora, Colorado in 2012? Most people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012? Most people in Sandy Hook in 2012?

I'm sure most of these people where have a great time-NOT!


Cat

I guess generalizing is suddenly a crime? If 90% of people had a good 2010, that means overall 2010 was a good year. It's not like the 10% who had a bad year don't matter, they're just the minority. People really whine about anything

I guess generalizing is suddenly a crime? If 90% of people had a good 2010, that means overall 2010 was a good year. It's not like the 10% who had a bad year don't matter, they're just the minority. People really whine about anything


The point is that you cannot generalize if the majority of people had a good year or not. You can generalize the majority of the people YOU know. But there is absolutely no way for ANYONE to know if the majority of people had a good year or not.


Cat

You gotta learn to differentiate between the culture of your own personal life VS culture as a whole. Your life may have sucked in 2010 - 2012, but most people were having a great time



I guess generalizing is suddenly a crime? If 90% of people had a good 2010, that means overall 2010 was a good year. It's not like the 10% who had a bad year don't matter, they're just the minority. People really whine about anything


Exactly WHERE are you getting these statistics? And who are these "most people"? "Most people" in the whole world? 

I think it's safe to estimate. If I was doing the opposite I bet you 2 would be okay with it (we can assume most Americans in the 1930's weren't having a good time)

I think it's safe to estimate. If I was doing the opposite I bet you 2 would be okay with it (we can assume most Americans in the 1930's weren't having a good time)



You can't estimate that just like you can't generalize. Like I said, you can within your circle of people but NOT the entire population. As much as you would like to, you really can't.



Cat

I think it's safe to estimate. If I was doing the opposite I bet you 2 would be okay with it (we can assume most Americans in the 1930's weren't having a good time)


Safe? Try "estimating" like that in a job where people are depending on you for valid statistics and you would be fired in a hot minute. You cannot statistically quantify the number of people in the world who are "having a good time" at any given period, be it the 1930s or the 2010s. What you CAN quantify, about the 1930s for example, the number of people in certain areas (say the US or parts of the US) who were employed vs not employed, or what their income levels were. Maybe from there you could SPECULATE (and I stress SPECULATE) about their state of mind. But even then there is no guarantee that a broke person, or an unemployed person, ISN'T having a good time, for example.

You 2 are picky about this, I'm not. Let's just agree to disagree

You 2 are picky about this, I'm not. Let's just agree to disagree


We can't agree to disagree about FACTS. Facts simply ARE. We can agree to disagree about opinions. If you liked a certain song and we didn't, that's a perfect place to "agree to disagree". But we cannot agree to disagree that 1=1=5, because it DOESN'T.

What I'm really getting at is the big picture. Too many people here post completely unquantifiable, made up things like "2013 was very innocent" or some such, just because it happened to be that way in their little world and they are projecting it onto the culture at large.

You 2 are picky about this, I'm not. Let's just agree to disagree


What he said:


We can't agree to disagree about FACTS. Facts simply ARE. We can agree to disagree about opinions. If you liked a certain song and we didn't, that's a perfect place to "agree to disagree". But we cannot agree to disagree that 1=1=5, because it DOESN'T.

What I'm really getting at is the big picture. Too many people here post completely unquantifiable, made up things like "2013 was very innocent" or some such, just because it happened to be that way in their little world and they are projecting it onto the culture at large.



“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
                                                          ~Daniel Patrick Moynihan



If you take a poll, THEN you can say, "xx% people who took this poll felt yadda yadda yadda". But that STILL wouldn't be the majority of people. That would only be the majority of people who took the poll.  (That is why I don't take stock in polls but that is another issue.)

You are pulling figures (whether if be an estimate or generalization) out of the air to justify your belief. There is absolutely NO WAY for you to know those figures-there is absolutely NO WAY for ANYONE to know those figures.


Cat

If you take a poll, THEN you can say, "xx% people who took this poll felt yadda yadda yadda". But that STILL wouldn't be the majority of people. That would only be the majority of people who took the poll.  (That is why I don't take stock in polls but that is another issue.)



Cat


Correct about polls. Polls and surveys  utilize a cross section of people known as a "sample" or "random sampling". They also have a margin of error on either side. 10% or even more. So they are basically useless.

Algorithms are even worse. When I buy something on Amazon, or watch something on Netflix, or the (very) rare occasions I listen to something on Spotify, you should see the garbage they recommend to me.

Correct about polls. Polls and surveys  utilize a cross section of people known as a "sample" or "random sampling". They also have a margin of error on either side. 10% or even more. So they are basically useless.

Algorithms are even worse. When I buy something on Amazon, or watch something on Netflix, or the (very) rare occasions I listen to something on Spotify, you should see the garbage they recommend to me.


I can believe it. I TRY to ignore the recommendations but sometimes they are right in your face.


Cat